The most passionate fan of all rugby, even to the detriment of our stable family life, I grew up in England playing the game from aged 7 onwards. I played until a terrible shoulder injury curtailed my amateur career. My friends would have laughed knowing the player ‘I was’ who enjoyed the glory and less of the work – I recollect one rugby coach once saying to me “If Zulf cared half as much about playing rugby as how he looked on the pitch he would have been a decent player” Since then I have helped little league teams in Dubai with basic skills training and coaching etc.

How did you get to Slovakia? and to RKB?

The main reason a man comes to Slovakia, is the women – I have 3, my wife and my daughters! After 10 years in the Middle East it was to come back to motherland, their mother’s land! As for RKB, good ole Google, I searched expat rugby teams and the rest is history, and after 3 training sessions I am taking over! Ha! Genuinely I had seen the infrastructure, effort and passion that Charlie had put in, and thought it would be nice to be a part of this community.

Rugby after all, is family.

You have “replaced” Charlie to the senior squad, as he was busy with the rugby school. How does it feel to propose a pudding rugby instead a froggly snaily rugby game style?

Actually, I had noticed that some basic skills sets were missing or needed improving upon – mainly in the catching, passing and mobility spheres. But the passion and intention was good, and the guys, especially the ones newish to the game exceptionally receptive to guidance and learning – which at our age is refreshing. If you look at good rugby teams they do basics well; tackle, pass, catch etc. I believe I can add value in some of these areas as well as providing rugby mentality. By that I mean, rugby is hard and physical but provides you with friends for life, or at least it should.

You started your senior coaching during the match Bratislava vs Piestany. Sure not the best score ever for our club, but I guess you see good things, and points to improve; what were they?

Surprisingly the set piece is strong, no doubt well coached way before I arrived. Scrummaging, rucking, and lineouts are the most technical level of the game, and I was quietly surprised at the level – in a good way.

Areas of improvement are obviously, contact – too many missed first time tackles and bad body positioning, but this comes with practice and learning to fear less. My biggest bugbear in rugby is the inability to pass or catch – these two core principles I will try and drill in to the boys as long as I am involved, and these areas need large amounts of improvement.

You know the western rugby (UK, Ireland, and France) with their strong structures, where fans have rugby culture in the stadium and at the pub. How do you see perspective for the RKB located in central Europe regarding the difficulties we face to introduce rugby to the dummies?

I mentioned this earlier, rugby is family or should be. I think the biggest part of getting this message across it show how important ‘apres rugby’ can be, camaraderie and beer. I applaud Charlie for undertaking this large challenge and having run sporting clubs before know that this becomes a second job, and sometimes a first one too! But once it gains momentum, and teams start to tour, and proper sponsors come on board, and results become more consistent you will see the game grow, even if from an amateur perspective. The more you enjoy it, the more others want to enjoy it too! I have been very impressed with some of the Slovak guys and their willingness to put their body’s on the line, some of that commitment is excellent, and the players who have been playing so long could match that then it would greatly benefit the club.

I think the key is for more guys like Charlie to come out of the woodwork and create an environment for people to learn the game then who knows the federation may seriously look into it at grassroots and school level! There enough tough guys who like villains from movies here who look born for the rugby pitch!

In case a senior beginner would make a try to our trainings, would you have something to propose to him?

All levels are welcome but only if the mentality is right and if they want to fit into the culture of the club. If you can’t catch, pass, tackle or even come close to those, maybe pottery would be a better option!